A novel approach to peacebuilding

It is morning in Rwanda’s Gicumbi District, Northern Province. Rays of sun stream through the windows of the Gicumbi Children’s Peace Library, softly illuminating shelves stocked with colorful Bible stories, crossword anthologies and books on the environment. A plethora of works by African authors shares shelf space with titles like Clifford the Big Red Dog.

Children from G.S. Byumba Inyange, a local school, walk to the library with their teacher and sit in a row. Francine Muhawenimana, a coordinator at the library, hands them each a slip of paper with a single word written on it, in English, which the children study alongside the national language of Kinyarwanda.   

As Muhawenimana asks the students to take turns using their words in sentences, Bruno Ineza Kabera is the first to raise his hand, crafting a sentence with the word “sister.” His peers share sentences using words like “brother,” “pot” and “friends.” When a child is unsure of what their word means, the others assist.

Muhawenimana next projects the pages of a picture book — Beloved Daughter by Uganda-based teacher and author Ritah Katetemera — onto a screen at the front of the room. The book is part of African Storybook, an initiative that publishes children’s books by African authors in a range of languages spoken on the continent. She reads each page in both English and Kinyarwanda. The story, about a young girl who is comforted by a friend after her brothers break her favorite clay pot, features all the words used in the first activity. When the book ends, Muhawenimana leads the children in a short discussion about ways they can help their friends. 

“It helped me to refresh my mind,” says Ineza Kabera, and to learn the meaning of new words. But this and other activities also help children learn the value of peace — and how to foster it in their communities.

In the years after the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi — which turned neighbors against neighbors, friends against friends, and in which moderate Hutus were also killed — Rwandan and international organizations started various peacebuilding initiatives. They worked to repair the rift between ethnic groups that decades of colonial rule had deepened. These programs generally focused on reaching Rwandan adults.

But, as Muhawenimana explains, “Even the children, they have conflict between them,” which can lead to arguments, theft and even physical altercations in schools.

The organization she works for, MCC partner Transformational Leadership Center (TLC), saw an opportunity to rewrite this narrative.

Seeking to instill a culture of peace and a lifelong love of reading in children, TLC opened its first peace library in 2005. Today, the organization runs six libraries across Rwanda.

In addition to activities like these, children partake in peace debates. They are presented with a topic, and with a stance to take on it. They research the topic using library resources, and then practice public speaking skills when they state their case to their peers.

About 250 children and teens have also completed peer mediation training at the libraries. “In peer mediation, we study how children can help another child or her friend or her family,” explains Ineza Kabera’s classmate Sonia Hakizimana Iraboneye.

During the trainings, youth aged 8 to 15 learn about the root causes of conflict and practice mediation techniques by acting out scenarios, such as intervening when one classmate steals another’s pen. When a similar situation played out in real life at school, Bienvenue Mugisha knew exactly what to do. He compelled a classmate to return items they’d stolen from a friend — and convinced the student they’d stolen from to forgive the theft. Students who undergo peer mediation training form peace clubs in their schools. Leaders of these clubs, including Ineza Kabera, teach their classmates about peace by hosting discussions, putting on plays or concerts, or — Ineza Kabera’s favorite method — writing and performing poems about peace.

Since starting her role with TLC, Muhawenimana has seen firsthand the impact that library programming has on children. As they spend more time at the library, she says, children become more confident in reading and analyzing stories. As these literacy abilities grow, so do the young readers’ peacemaking skills. “They learn different vocabularies, but also, they change their behavior.”